Buckle Up Sisters And Brothers

In the name of God, compassionate & merciful بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ | Peace be with you السلام عليكم

A very close non-Muslim friend from primary school added me on Facebook the other day. I was surprised but pleased that he remembered me, and I spent some time reminiscing looking through his profile. Unfortunately, my heart sunk when I saw that he had been strongly for the ‘Draw Mohammed Day’ and had even designed some distasteful images of the Prophet ﷺ in the name of ‘Freedom of speech’ (according to his profile). This got me thinking… Firstly, how should I react to this? Secondly, do we as Muslims know enough about our beloved Prophet ﷺ to engage in discourse with others about him?


I’m fairly certain we all saw the wall of the group “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” a few weeks back. A cursory glance at the posts on the ‘wall’ of the group made it clear that the outcomes had little to do with promoting freedom of speech and everything to do with insulting Islam and generating anger. Once again, the question of free speech versus respect for religion received world attention – but this time through a medium we ALL engage with on a daily basis.

Aside from being grossly offended by distasteful depictions of our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, just as we would be offended by distasteful depictions of our Prophet Jesus, we young Muslims have to reflect on the issue of freedom of speech with same Islamic intelligence that comes from our tradition. Seeking to lock out of the debate those that seek to offend us will not allow us to challenge their distasteful views – rather, their views will remain the same and we will drive them further away. Do they have the right to draw cartoons? Yes. Does that mean that it is appropriate to exercise that right to such offensive extremes? Probably not. Europe has longstanding parameters on freedom of speech – the same parameters that facilitate free thinking within a PRODUCTIVE context, and we should acknowledge and adhere to that tradition. In Britain, the country I’ve grown up in, one has the freedom to discuss unfettered – but with very firm laws to prevent incitement to violence and hatred. Though Facebook claims it abides by certain rules and regulations in terms of offensive comment, this one slipped through the cracks too easily – and it’s up to us young users of such social media to challenge not the forum itself (as Pakistan and Bangladesh have done) but the ideals behind this – because we believe in upholding them, too. The Qur’an and the Sunnah teach us that the actions of Islamophobes are nothing new. It is too easy to be like the grizzly bear poked by the little stick a few too many times before we're out of control - the greatest promoter of “Draw Muhammad Day” were not the originators themselves – Muslims, without realising, spearheaded the promotion and hype for them with our plans for boycotts and angry comments.


Even 1400 years later, we can still look to the example of the Prophet ﷺ and his wife `Aisha, who out of love for the Prophet yelled the following at a naysayer of Muhammad’s: “May the curse of Allah be upon you, and his punishment, and his…!” The Prophet ﷺ stopped her, saying: “Calm down oh `Aisha, calm down. There is no gentleness in anything, except that it becomes more beautiful, and there is no harshness in anything except that it makes it ugly. So be calm, oh `Aisha.”

Looking ahead, amidst all the stories of crazy Muslim extremism, glam preachers-of-hate and the world of veil banning, it is my view that today as young Muslims actions speak louder than words. Now more than ever, we need to remember our priorities as Muslim youth and make sure this is what people know us for – our duty to the orphan, to feeding the poor, to our parents and relatives and to the world at large. It is this very duty that has driven me to do what I do today in the National Union of Students – working for students in Britain at large, Muslims and non-Muslims included.

What a wonderful time it is to be a young Muslim today in Britain. Many of us are amongst those who have become very British and also remained steadfast to our religion, striving to become more involved in civic life and working hard to evolve with our religion. We are united in our angst over expensive University fees and worried about the media coverage of “extremist Islam,” hate the injustice over Palestine (like the recent flotilla attack), and generally seek to go about our days getting our work done, helping the community and our families, and staying afloat of any major crises. With the ‘ordinariness’ of this routine most of us engage in, we sometimes forget that it is WE who keep getting talked about! Let’s use our voices in a positive way and contribute to the conversation – but in a productive and peaceful way!

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Brother Mustafa on Like Media.tv

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